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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302693">Love is a Four Letter Word</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_and_seafire/pseuds/starlight_and_seafire'>starlight_and_seafire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, Online Relationship, POV Alternating</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:56:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302693</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_and_seafire/pseuds/starlight_and_seafire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe Dameron is a community organizer, working with veterans throughout the state, a former veteran himself, and he loves his job. But he works strange hours and his social life has taken a hit.</p><p>Rey Kenobi is working on her master’s degree, spending long and irregular hours at school and doing research, and with her friends Finn and Rose overseas, she’s finding herself increasingly isolated.</p><p>Both of them turn to online scrabble in an effort to curb their loneliness, but they just may find a lot more than they bargained for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Poe Dameron/Rey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>135</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Poe trudges into his apartment, dropping his messenger bag by the door. He catches his reflection in the mirror, runs a hand through his curls and along his stubble.</p><p>Then he sighs and scowls at himself.</p><p>He’s exhausted. Mostly, he’s grumpy. He does manage to smile at his chubby corgi as the dog waddles over to Poe for his evening walk. Poe scratches Bee’s ears before clipping his leash on and taking him for a walk around the neighborhood.</p><p>Poe loves his job, he really does. And even better, as a notorious night owl long before he started working in this field, the fact that he can sleep in every morning, start work in the early afternoon and attend community functions in the evening, it seems like the job was simply made for him. He’s a community organizer, working with veterans throughout the state, a former veteran himself, and he’s <em>good </em>at his job.</p><p>But as someone who sleeps through the morning and works late into the evening, his social life has taken a significant hit since starting it. He’s not really into the bar scene, or the club scene, and while some of his closest friends work at the same organization as him, it’s rare that they can all find the time to get together outside of the office.</p><p>Then again, while texting with Karé earlier, she gave him a suggestion that might make him feel a little less isolated. When he gets back to his apartment with Bee, he fills the dog’s bowl before going to the fridge and pouring himself a bowl of cereal, and munches away while booting his computer up.</p><p>He checks the website address again, and proceeds to sign up for an account.</p><p>Within minutes, a scrabble board fills the screen in front of him, and he grins as he examines his tiles.</p><p>Thankfully his friend knows he’s both a nerd <em>and </em>competitive. The game hasn’t even started yet, but he can already feel the slight kick of adrenaline in his blood.</p><p>His chubby corgi waddles over to him and curls up at his feet, and Poe cracks his knuckles as his hand hovers over his mouse.</p><p><em>Alright¸ Sunflower, </em>he thinks to himself as he glances at his opponent’s screenname. <em>Ready to get your ass kicked?</em></p><p>***</p><p>Rey sprawls out on the floor of her apartment’s living room amongst a stack of books and notepads, and more post-it notes than she thinks one person should ever own much less use.</p><p>Her dachshund, Dio, prods her arm with a wet nose and she lets herself tumble over onto her back, her little sausage dog squirming happily as she lets him think that he pushed her over.</p><p>The dog climbs up onto her stomach for a cuddle, so it’s an easy price to pay for the absolute glee manifested in that small, thin tail excitedly waggling back and forth.</p><p>With Finn spending the year abroad to work on his thesis, and his fiancée Rose Tico along with him too while she consults at an international aeronautical engineering firm, Rey’s more than a little thankful for Dio’s presence in her life. She grew up a lonely child, spending time in one foster home after another until she found a home, and solace, living with Ben Kenobi until his death a few years prior. And between Ben and Finn and Rose, she finally learned how <em>good</em> people could be, the light and kindness and sheer joy they can bring to your life.</p><p>But with Finn and Rose now overseas, and her master’s degree and her thesis looming large in front of her for the foreseeable future, she realizes she’s growing more lonely, more isolated.</p><p>She sighs and lifts the dog up in her arms to look in his face.</p><p>“What should we do tonight, Dio?” she asks with a serious expression on her face.</p><p>Dio just wags his tail harder, panting happily as his tongue lolls out of his mouth.</p><p>She grins. “That’s a fantastic idea, you’re so smart,” she coos.</p><p>She thinks Dio’s tail might just hit lightspeed.</p><p>The dachshund follows her over to her desk where she logs onto her computer.</p><p>She normally plays scrabble against Finn or Rose, the other woman an absolute menace at the board game, but with their schedules so different now . . .</p><p>“Let’s see who we can find to play a game against tonight,” she tells her dog, who promptly curls up at her feet.</p><p>She enters a room and proceeds to hit play. “Looks like we’re going to be playing Starfighter tonight, Dio. Ready to crush their ass?”</p><p>Dio barks happily.</p><p>***</p><p>Neither of them are particularly talkative during their first game outside of “Nice one!” or “Wow!” or “You’re killing me here!”</p><p>The last one was when Sunflower played all her tiles to spell “gherkins.” It was both an absolutely hilarious word in itself, plus it earned her more than enough points that Poe was certain he was going to lose the game.</p><p>Turns out, he was right.</p><p>“Up for another?” he asks in the chat box.</p><p>“Absolutely! But maybe we can take a few minutes first? I’m gonna grab some food.”</p><p>“Sounds like a plan. Back in five?”</p><p>Poe takes the opportunity to replenish his own cereal bowl, and then their second game is on.</p><p>They’re both more talkative during their second game. It’s how he learns that she heated up some leftover lasagna to eat, and he practically salivates at the idea.</p><p>“That sounds amazing,” he tells her. “Much better than my cereal.”</p><p>“I don’t know, what kind of cereal is it?”</p><p>“Lucky Charms,” he types back quickly before setting down his tiles.</p><p>“Ohhh, that’s the dinner of kings.”</p><p>He can practically hear the teasing in Sunflower’s words.</p><p>“It is delicious, but lasagna sounds much better. Sadly, I’m an absolutely <em>terrible </em>cook, so I’m just going to have to be insanely jealous of you.”</p><p>“Hmm,” she types, and after a long pause, he sees her word pop up on screen.</p><p>He laughs when he sees <em>lasagna</em> spelled out on the board.</p><p>And then he winces as he sees the point counter go way, <em>way</em> up in her favor.</p><p>“And how jealous are you now?” Sunflower types.</p><p>He thinks he must wake the neighbors with how hard he laughs.</p><p>***</p><p>When she first hits send, she winces, wondering if maybe that was too much.</p><p>But Starfighter’s response comes almost immediately. “Oh yeah? Watch this.”</p><p>Then he plays a word that results in a gain of only five points for him.</p><p>Then he sends, “So very, very jealous,” much to her amusement.</p><p>While they may have both been pretty quiet that first game, their banter and trash talking only increases as their game continues, and she can’t stop smiling.</p><p>In fact, she’s so amused that she doesn’t care (well, okay, she <em>does</em> care, she’s always been competitive) when he manages a pretty impressive array of words during the rest of the game.</p><p>It’s close, but in the end, he manages to pull out a victory.</p><p>“Noooo!” She types. “You just got lucky.”</p><p>“Oh, did I?” he teases back. “Best two out of three?”</p><p>***</p><p>Sunflower manages to pull out a win in the third game, but it’s close. And then Poe’s asking, “Do you want to do this again sometime?” before he even thinks twice about it.</p><p>It’s the most fun he’s had in a long time and he’s more than a little excited when Sunflower says yes.</p><p>They set up a time to meet online for the next night.</p><p>***</p><p>Over the next few months, they play scrabble online a couple of times a week.</p><p>He learns early on that her name is Rey, and she’s working on her master’s degree. She’s focusing on the social and political history of Modern Europe, and currently researching the French Resistance movement and, in particular, the roles women played in it.</p><p>Poe thinks of his boss, Leia Organa, and already imagines her and Sunflower — Rey — meeting. Leia has a similar interest in the subject, and he can just imagine the two women bonding over it.</p><p>Not that he knows Rey, not really. But it’s starting to feel like it. She talks about her work at the university and her research. He even learns that she loves to listen to electronic dance music while they play scrabble online.</p><p>Or, as she would more likely put it, as she trounces his ass at scrabble.</p><p>It’s scary how brilliant she is, not just with the words she plays, but in their conversations too, and with her witty retorts. More than once the game play falls to the wayside as they talk about their favorite books.</p><p>He’s never felt so comfortable around someone so quickly. He’s never found someone so easy to talk to. He tells her about his father, halfway across the country back home in Florida while Poe’s in Virginia. He tells her that he used to be a pilot in the Air Force, and now helps veterans, and advocates for their causes. He tells her that sometimes he dreams of going back to school for a master’s degree, and that all her talk of her studies is actually tempting him.</p><p>“I drink an entire pot of coffee just to get through the day,” she tells him.</p><p>He grins. “That’s hot.”</p><p>After a long pause, he adds, “Get it? It’s hot, cause coffee’s hot.”</p><p>“Hear that? That’s me groaning. You nerd.”</p><p>“It’s 1:00 am in the morning and we’re playing online scrabble. I think we’re both nerds.”</p><p>Her response is immediate. “Nerd.”</p><p>He grins so hard his cheeks ache with it.</p><p>***</p><p>Another night he tells her he enlisted in the Air Force because he wanted to fly, like his mother, Shara Bey. And like his mother, neither one of them are pilots anymore. She died when he was a kid, and his injury overseas keeps him from the cockpit now.</p><p>He briefly worries that maybe he said too much, that it’s too much between two people who get together for a friendly online game to stave off their loneliness and isolation.</p><p>Then she tells him about Ben, the only real parent she ever had, who had died four years ago. But for the seven years he was in her life, it was the best years she’s ever had. Only her friends Finn and Rose enabled her to get through his passing.</p><p>His heart breaks for her. But at the same time his heart breaks, he feels it opening, widening, making space for this woman, this sunflower, he only knows via screen.</p><p>Maybe it’s because there’s less pressure because they’re not face to face, but he finds it so easy to talk to her. More than even that, though, he thinks he finds himself falling for her.</p><p>***</p><p>Poe tells her that he chose his screenname because his mother was a pilot, and that when he was a small child, she would hug him and call him her little starfighter.</p><p>He wanted to fly, wanted to see the stars. And, at least for a little while, he got close.</p><p>Rey’s fingers hover over her keyboard, imagining a loving young mother hugging her son close while his little hands reached for the sky.</p><p>Not for the first time she wishes she knew what he looked like.</p><p>She tells him she has a sunflower tattoo on her ankle, because for the seven years she lived with Ben, he always surprised her with sunflowers on her birthday.</p><p>Other than Ben himself, they were the brightest things in her life back then.</p><p>“He sounds like a good man,” Starfighter — Poe — says.</p><p>She smiles. “He was.”</p><p>The grief for Ben is still there, will always be there. But right now, that feeling is tempered by the warm, sweet feeling growing in her chest.</p><p>She wonders, not for the first time, what it would be like if there wasn’t a computer screen separating them.</p><p>***</p><p>Poe’s got to make a presentation in front of the state senate, and for the entire week prior he’s stuck in the office much too late every evening.</p><p>A balled up piece of paper hits him in the face and he looks up to see Karé smirking at him.</p><p>His scowl deepens.</p><p>“What’s got you so grumpy, Dameron?” she says, her teasing catching the eye of Iolo who just hung up from a call.</p><p>“Nothing.”</p><p>“Nothing?” Her brow furrows and she exchanges a look with Iolo. “Is it a girl?”</p><p>He says nothing.</p><p>Karé’s grin widens. “It is a girl! What’s her name?”</p><p>Poe heaves a sigh, but he knows that trying to stave off Karé’s curiosity would be an impossible task. And while he tells Karé her name is Rey, he can’t help but imagine sunflowers in a field, warm and bright.</p><p>Karé props herself on the side of his desk. “Where’d you meet her?”</p><p>Poe holds off as long as he can, knowing what to expect if he actually admits it.</p><p>And he’s right.</p><p>“Online scrabble,” Karé crows. “That’s perfect. She already knows you’re a big nerd then.”</p><p>Poe grins. “She does."</p><p>But his report won’t finish itself, so he returns to work, but far less grumpy than before.</p><p>Not for the first time, he wishes he knew Rey away from the computer screen.</p><p>***</p><p>Rey lets Dio out onto her balcony, the little dog spinning around looking for the best spot before laying down and sighing happily. She sets a stuffed raccoon down beside him for him to curl up with and leaves him to enjoy the evening air as the familiar alert sounds from her computer, letting her know that the other player has entered the game room.</p><p>She’s barely sat down before she’s typing, “The starfighter has finally returned! Ready to get your ass kicked?”</p><p>“That’d be a first.”</p><p>“A first? Excuse <em>you</em>,” she types, even as she giggles at their initial stages of trash talk.</p><p>“Me? Lose? Wouldn’t know what that’s like.”</p><p>“The last time we played, it was a clean sweep. Three out of three, you lost them all. I bet that’s why you’ve been missing this last week.”</p><p>“Well, I certainly was missing something.”</p><p>She rereads that line and presses the backs of her hands to her cheeks, her face flushing. But what does she say back? She’s a terrible flirt. She’s no good at it. Hell, she doesn’t even know if this is flirting, maybe he meant something else?</p><p>Before she can respond, he’s typed, “But I’m feeling good this evening. I’m feeling lucky. Ready to get your ass kicked?”</p><p>“You’re on, flyboy.”</p><p>When he responds with a row of laughing emojis, she feels a rush of happiness fill her chest. She certainly hopes she really made him laugh. She wishes they didn’t have this computer screen separating them to know for certain.</p><p>By the time they’re nearing the end of the game, the score is close, far closer than she would like. She’s actually nervous that she might lose.</p><p>She sees his word appear on the screen and her eyes widen.</p><p><em>It can’t be</em>.</p><p>He’s smart. She’s challenged a few of his words before. About half of them turn out to be actual words that she just didn’t know and she writes them down, determined not to be outdone again. The other half are bluffs, Poe attempting to score points, hoping she won’t challenge him.</p><p>But this? This is a pretty common word. Pretty basic. The spelling isn’t even difficult . . .</p><p>She knows he’s much too smart to misspell it. <em>What’s he playing at?</em></p><p>She challenges it anyway.</p><p>“NOOOOO!”</p><p>“What happened there, Poe?” she asks, curious.</p><p>“My dog hit my hand as I was hovering over the tiles and it chose the wrong letter and I didn’t catch it till too late.”</p><p>“Oh sure, blame the dog.”</p><p>“Oh, I will, that little monster.”</p><p>Rey huffs out a laugh, types, “Aww, I bet he’s adorable. What kind of dog is it?”</p><p>“A corgi. His name is Bee, and he <em>is </em>a monster.”</p><p>She smiles and types excitedly, “I love corgis! Second best breed of dog out there.”</p><p>It’s funny, right after she sends the message, she hears a couple of little yips come through her ceiling. She glances over at Dio, who’s still sitting outside, but who is now looking upwards.</p><p>Poe’s next message comes quickly. “I told Bee what you said. He’s normally pretty quiet, but I think he has a few disagreements about corgis being the second best breed.”</p><p>“Corgis are definitely awesome,” she tells him. “There’s an absolutely adorable one that I’ve seen around my apartment complex. Adorable orange bandana, an extra strut in his step. He knows he’s cute, that’s for sure. But my heart will always belong to dachshunds.”</p><p>***</p><p>Poe stares in shock, his hands hovering over his keyboard. Then, he slowly turns to face Bee, orange bandana around his neck, who had been pawing at Poe’s hand for attention a moment ago, who now waits expectantly for Poe at the balcony door.</p><p>Poe turns back to the screen, sees that Rey has typed, “I have a little sausage dog named Dio. But I would never be so rude as to blame my spelling errors on him (I mean, even if he wasn’t napping on my balcony right now anyway.)”</p><p>Poe’s eyes widen even further. <em>This can’t be.</em> On more than a few nights, he’s seen Bee sitting with his head lolling between the bars of the balcony, staring down at the floor below, where a dachshund laid sprawled out, staring right back up at Bee.</p><p>Just last week, before his long stint at the office, he had stepped outside to check on Bee and offer him a belly rub, and caught the dogs staring at each other. “Aww, Bee, you got a crush?”</p><p>Bee’s attention briefly turned to Poe, and the dog just gave him a <em>look.</em></p><p>Poe held up his hands placatingly. “Alright, alright. Well, you know where I am if you need me. Have fun with your new friend.”</p><p>Bee had promptly returned to ignoring Poe to focus on the little dachshund downstairs.</p><p>Now though, Poe pushes back from his desk in a daze, trying to tamp down the rush of . . .  whatever this is through his blood, <em>don’t hope Dameron, this is a fool’s hope</em>, and then he’s looking over the edge of the balcony and sees that familiar dark brown dachshund staring up at him and Bee.</p><p>He walks back inside, sees that Rey’s played her word and is now asking, “What’s taking you so long, flyboy?”</p><p>“Any chance your dog has a stuffed racoon friend?”</p><p>A long pause, and he winces, realizing how creepy that probably sounded, but he’s in shock and —</p><p>“Yes.” And then, “How do you know that?”</p><p>“I think my dog might be in love with yours or something? Unless there is another apartment complex with a corgi wearing an orange bandana and a dachshund who likes napping on balconies with his stuffed racoon, our dogs are staring at each other right now.”</p><p>This time when he stands to walk to the balcony, his heart is racing and is fit to burst as he leans over, and sees the <em>most beautiful </em>face staring up at him.</p><p>He’s only ever seen the woman briefly in passing, as she flies past him, always on the go, but in her over-large sweater and leggings, her hair done up in a trio of messy buns, she’s the most stunning person he’s ever seen.</p><p>His hands are shaking and he grips the balcony as he asks, “Sunflower?”</p><p>Her jaw drops in shock. “Starfighter?”</p><p>He laughs, absolutely elated. <em>What are the chances of this?</em></p><p>He sees her hand come up to cover her mouth, but he hears her laughter too, and the sound of it is sweet, and just as stunning as her. “What are the chances of this?” she asks, her thoughts mirroring his, and his laughter just comes harder.</p><p>“I don’t know, but this is pretty amazing.”</p><p>“Would you . . .” and she pauses, kneeling down to scratch her dog’s head, the dachshund peering upwards now and squirming with excitement. Rey turns her head up to him once more. “I have pizza. And scrabble. The board game, I mean, not the computer screen. You and Bee want to come over to play?”</p><p>For the last few months, he’s only ever been able to talk to Rey online.</p><p>And now that he can finally talk to her in person?</p><p>“We’re on our way, sunflower.”</p><p>And if he picks up Bee and does a little jig with him around his living room before heading downstairs?</p><p>Well, that’s his business.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm thinking this might need a second part, where they get to know each other offline and in the real world, if anyone would be interested in that?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Poe’s heart hammers inside his chest as he stands, hand poised to knock, in front of Rey’s door.</p><p>He’s so incredibly nervous, and he would wonder why, except that, just behind his nervousness and anxiety, he has a feeling that his life is about to change completely.</p><p>He’s been talking to her online for months now. He knows her favorite food, that she has a sunflower tattoo on her ankle, and more than that, he knows why she chose that particular tattoo and what it represents.</p><p>It almost seems strange to him that he’s only ever spoken to her online, but he had opened up to her too, in ways that he rarely ever has with anyone else before.</p><p>Before he can knock, Bee lets out a little yip.</p><p>He glares at Bee, hoping his look conveys his message accurately. <em>Traitor</em>.</p><p>His dog looks less than impressed with him though, and then Bee perks up when they can hear several small tippy-taps on the other side of the door.</p><p>Then, the door opens, and he’s finally face to face with Rey, and his heart stops its maddening race in his chest, halting suddenly before it kicks back to a start at the sight of a warm smile spreading across her beautiful face.</p><p>Bee’s already pushing in past Rey to eagerly greet Dio.</p><p>“Come in, come in,” she says as she ushers him inside. “It’s so good to finally meet you in person. And Bee too, of course.”</p><p>Bee for his part huffs out a greeting, but he’s too busy nuzzling at Dio to come over for a proper hello.</p><p>“It’s really great to meet you, too,” Poe says, stuffing his hands into his back pockets, suddenly hyperaware that they’re trembling.</p><p>“The pizza’s on the table by the couch, help yourself, get comfy. You want something to drink?”</p><p>“Sure, water?”</p><p>“Coming right up!”</p><p>Rey’s apartment is bright and full of life. Soft green curtains flutter at an open window, while all manner of flowers and plants adorn every free inch of space on her tables and shelves and in the corners of the room. There’s art on the walls, and pictures too, but not ones you can buy at a store. They’re all personal, hand painted canvases or photographs. Every inch of the space is <em>Rey.</em></p><p>But he sees none of it.</p><p>He only has eyes for her.</p><p>His impression of her hasn’t changed since he first saw her from his balcony upstairs, except now he can see those little details that he missed before. Her eyes were striking, a beautiful hazel color that knocked him off his feet the moment she had opened the door. There was her bright smile, and the constellation of freckles that dotted her flushed cheeks and her cute nose. His eyes follow her to the kitchen, where she moves gracefully, with an athleticism almost belied by her willowy frame.</p><p>He congratulates himself when he sits down without tripping over his own feet, and every time he manages to drink a sip of his water or take a bite of his pizza without choking.</p><p>He loses that first game, as he knew he would. But how could he be expected to think when he finally gets to see Rey face to face?</p><p>“Glad to see that not much has changed from our online games,” she teases as she clears the board, depositing the tiles back in their bag. “Another?”</p><p>And in that moment, he knows, with an absolute certainty, that he’ll never be able to say no to her.</p><p>Despite the lateness of the hour, she shakes the bag and holds it out to him, both unable to end their evening for anything.</p><p>He knows he was already half in love with her before he’d even met her in person.</p><p>But now that he knows her, has seen her face, has heard her voice as she banters with him, witty and clever and <em>real</em> —</p><p>He knows he’s in danger of falling for her completely.</p><p>***</p><p>That first evening, when he’s left her apartment with Bee, Rey locks the door behind him and immediately her knees give out and she sags back against the door.</p><p>She lets out a little giggle then, pressing the back of her hands to her cheeks to feel them flushed with warmth.</p><p>She’s positively giddy, has been since she first spotted him on the balcony above hers, standing there and staring back at her, with his unruly mess of dark curls (<em>luscious</em>, her mind provides) just a few short hours before. How is it even possible that the man she had connected with online could live just above her? Fate’s never been this kind to her before, why would it suddenly allow the man who she had practically fallen for just from online conversations live so close to her?</p><p>Then he showed up on her doorstep, seemingly as sweet as he was online, with kind brown eyes and a strong jaw framed by stubble that she can’t help but imagine would feel rough and delicious under her hand, and perfect, lush lips —</p><p>She covers her mouth with her hands as she giggles once more.</p><p>Then her laughter trails off and her jaw drops as she realizes her place is an absolute mess, books and papers scattered all over her floor and her desk, post-it notes fluttering about, tea mugs scattered all over, including by the computer which sat open to the online version of scrabble.</p><p>She’s a little embarrassed that she hadn’t noticed any of that before, but she had been so caught up in Poe.</p><p>Oh, well. Nothing she can do about it now. She turns off her computer and heads to bed in a dreamy haze.</p><p>She still feels as if she’s floating on air when she gets a text from him the next day. “Bee misses Dio. He wanted me to ask you if you wanted to play scrabble with me tomorrow night?”</p><p><em>Nerd</em>, she thinks, even as she hurriedly rushes to type “yes”. <em>Using his dog to ask for a date</em>.</p><p>Then her fingers still over her keyboard, her mind racing, as she wonders, <em>this is a date, right?</em></p><p>She can’t be imagining that there’s something between them. She rereads his text, and smiles and hits send.</p><p>The next day she has to sit down and write out a schedule. Otherwise she’s pretty sure she’ll just be anxious all day, foregoing all her time for research and writing to think—well, daydream, really—about Poe instead, by wondering when she should start getting ready, if maybe she should tidy up her apartment.</p><p>Well, she does write out a schedule, and she does try to stick to it, but she’s less than successful. She can’t help the way her mind returns to him over and over, and she realizes more than once that she has just been staring off into space while tapping her pen aimlessly on her notepad.</p><p>It’s just . . . it’s so unusual for her to feel so connected to someone so quickly. And he makes her laugh until her cheeks ache with it, makes her feel bright and giddy, in a way she’s never felt before. She reminiscences about how he had told her how his dog hates his shoes, and he has to hide them so Bee doesn’t chew them up, but every year on Bee’s birthday, he gives Bee a pair of his old shoes as a gift. He had pulled out his phone to show her the pictures of Bee’s birthday celebration, and ended up going through a whole album dedicated to Bee, which really seemed to be a showcase for Poe’s undying devotion to his dog. Who else proudly gives their dog shoes, and dresses them up in an actual bee costume for Halloween (and <em>oh, </em>how Poe had blushed when that same picture, taken the year prior, of Bee wearing a bee costume revealed Poe wearing a sunflower costume.) And that wasn’t even the only couple’s costume he had worn with Bee. It was cute, and it made her laugh even as it made <em>something</em> tug at her heart.</p><p>At that last memory, she shakes her head to clear her mind and bring herself back to the present, where she meets eyes with Dio.</p><p>“Oh, don’t judge me. I know you’re excited to see Bee again too.”</p><p>At the name, Dio, her normally quiet, skittish dog, jumps up and starts spinning in circles, panting happily.</p><p>Rey shoves her notes away. “You’re right. I’m not going to get anything accomplished today, am I? How about a walk?”</p><p>Dio responds as always, leading her straight to her door, where Rey slips on her shoes and clips on his leash. “Let’s see if we can get any of this nervous energy out, shall we?”</p><p>***</p><p>The tiles taunt him. He’s been trying to tell Rey how he’s felt about her for weeks now, ever since they had started playing scrabble games in person, but things keep getting in the way.</p><p>Okay. <em>He </em>keeps getting in the way of <em>himself</em>. He knows this. His dad has always teased him about being a hopeless romantic.</p><p>His dad’s teasing would probably be more effective if his dad wasn’t also a hopeless romantic himself, but maybe it was hereditary. Then again, you can’t be a child of Kes Dameron and Shara Bey and not become a hopeless romantic yourself, not when you had a front row seat to their epic love story, and the almost unbearable tragedy of their parting.</p><p>But today, right now, of the seven tiles he’s pulled, L-O-V-E stands out in stark relief.</p><p>When he plays the combination a few moves later, he can’t quite meet Rey’s eyes, as if the tiles themselves would give him away.</p><p>When he plays A-D-O-R-E a few moves later, he has to excuse himself to go to the bathroom, in order to splash cold water on his overheated face.</p><p>By the time he walks back into the living room and sits down at the table, his heart is still jackhammering in his chest.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Rey asks, her voice as sweet as sugar.</p><p>
  <em>No doubt from the gallons of Mountain Dew she seems to suck down on a daily basis.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just another thing he loves about her.</em>
</p><p>He can admit that to himself now, even if he can only manage to nod at her.</p><p>Then she plays her tiles.</p><p>K-I-S-S-I-N-G.</p><p>
  <em>He’s gonna die. He’s gonna die right here in her living room. Cause of death?  Rey.</em>
</p><p>He loses that game, too.</p><p>Rey’s phone rings and she briefly glances at it, before she tells Poe, “It’s a friend from my study group. Give me a few minutes, and we can play another round?”</p><p>He nods, hopes he doesn’t look like he’s (still) having a stroke or anything. But as she walks out of the room, he drops his face into his hands.</p><p>When he glances up, dragging his hands through his hair, he sees two dogs staring at him reproachfully.</p><p>Great, now he’s imagining that the dogs are judging him. Clearly he’s not going insane or anything.</p><p>But as they continue staring, he sighs deeply. “First Karé, now you two?”</p><p>Last time he had been in the office with her and Iolo, he’d been very distracted and they had quickly figured out the reason why, (un)helpfully tossing out suggestions for him.</p><p>Though, to be fair, Karé had one that seemed like a good idea. “It’s perfect,” she said. “You’re a nerd, and you haven’t scared her off yet, so clearly she likes your nerdiness.”</p><p>But then they had started singing “Poe and Rey, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” cause clearly his friends are children.</p><p>And now, Rey’s tiles spelling out that word stare back up at him.</p><p>He turns back to the dogs. “Okay. You’re right. We’re doing this.”</p><p>He clears the tiles, hurriedly rushing to find the right letters and place them on the board before she gets back. A part of him, the one not caught up with anxiety and nerves, is grateful that he got the chance to do this between games, because she would have <em>killed</em> him if he tried this during one.</p><p>He’s just placed the last letter on the board when she walks back into the room. “Sorry about that,” she says, as she tosses her phone on the shelf by the hallway. “We’re in the middle of a group project, cause apparently grad school still insists on torturing its students like that.”</p><p>Then she pauses, staring at him oddly, and he realizes he’s breathing heavy, and he knows, just <em>knows</em>, his face is flushed red.</p><p>
  <em>Geez Dameron, can’t you be smooth for once?</em>
</p><p>He can practically hear Iolo and Karé perk up wherever they are in the world today and call out in tandem, “<em>Nerd.”</em></p><p>Rey tilts her head, clearly puzzled, as she looks at him. “You sure you’re okay?”</p><p>He stammers out something like “Of course, never better.”</p><p>She nods. “Okay,” she says and starts to walk to the table, her expression growing more confused as she sees the board still covered in tiles, even as her lips tilt upward as if to tease him. “I thought you were going to clear the board?”</p><p>“I did.”</p><p>Her brow furrows but then she sits and finally sees the tiles on the board spelling out —</p><p>
  <em>Will you go out with me</em>
</p><p>Her beautiful face furrows with — hell, he doesn’t know what exactly, but he does know it feels like his heart skips a beat, and he prepares himself for a rejection.</p><p>
  <em>Oh, this is going to hurt.</em>
</p><p>But then she looks up at him, the tips of her ears pink. “I kinda thought we already were?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I thought . . .  that all of this,” she says, waving her hand around to indicate her and him, the bright wildflowers he brought to her this evening sitting in a vase on the counter, the plates of lasagna she had made for them this evening, and their glasses of wine by the scrabble board. Then she’s dropping her head into her hands as her cheeks turn even pinker, and she breaks out in laughter as she says, “I thought these were dates, you ding dong. Honestly, I’ve been wondering when you were going to get around to kissing me.”</p><p>It takes him a moment to process what she said—<em>and “ding dong” is new, he’ll have to tell Kar</em><em>é and Iolo that one, and wait, why’s he’s thinking about them, Rey thought these were dates, wait she thinks she’s been </em>agreeing <em>to go out with me, she </em>wanted <em>to go out with me.</em></p><p>And then, <em>wait. She’s been waiting for me to kiss her? She wants to kiss me?!</em></p><p>His jaw drops open and he’s staring at her, even though she’s hunched over, her eyes closed, as she laughs. But then she lifts her head and meets his eyes . . . and bursts out laughing again.</p><p>She gestures to their phones. “You’ve been asking me if I wanted to get together and play scrabble with you for weeks now, and I agreed, every time.”</p><p>While a part of him is positively giddy at the idea that she seems happy about the idea of dating him, there’s another part of him that’s mildly horrified. “You thought this would be the sort of date I’d take you on?”</p><p>“Well, you are kind of a nerd,” she teases. Then she grins. “To be fair, so am I,” she says, gesturing around to her shelves spilling over with books, her piles of notes, the giant map of Europe pinned to her wall, pins and threads marking important places and events she’s compiling for her thesis.</p><p>He sinks down in his chair, her laughter only inspiring his. “You’re right, you’re right. That is fair . . . but also, not really. Let me take you out. For real this time. Let me show you I can do so much better than scrabble. So, tell me, Rey. Will you go on a date with me?”</p><p>It’s all he can do not to jump up and whoop with glee and do a victory dance with Bee when she says “Yes.”</p><p>***</p><p>Rey has to give him credit. While she always enjoyed their scrabble “dates” or whatever he considered them to be, she has to admit, she was really looking forward to the date he put together for them.</p><p>At 2:00 pm that day, Poe knocks on her door, and she finds him on the other side, holding another bouquet of wildflowers for her. “For you, my lady,” he says with a slight bow and an impish grin that only highlighted the line of his jaw and that stubble, and how good he looked in his simple blue button down and dark wash jeans.</p><p>Then he glances down at the dog standing impatiently at his feet. “Alright boy, let’s thank your host now, shall we?” He leans over and unclips a little bag hanging from Bee’s collar, pulling out a treat for Dio (and one for Bee, too).</p><p>Rey’s pretty sure she has the stupidest grin on her face as she watches, but she tries to hide it by burying her face in the flowers and taking in a deep breath of their sweet, lovely scent, before taking them to the kitchen to put them in water.</p><p>When she returns, Poe holds his hands out to her, and she places her hands in his. She’s been hoping for a kiss since the first night he had come down to her apartment, or maybe even during their first “date” night that wasn’t apparently a date, so she’s hoping that it might happen sooner rather than later.</p><p>Instead, he tells her, “You look beautiful. Just absolutely stunning.”</p><p>She blushes, unable to look him in the eyes right away, still too unused to compliments. And while she hadn’t bought a new outfit for the occasion, the dress she’s wearing is one of her favorites, a soft green with an even softer material that feels amazing when she runs her own hands over it and, <em>don’t think about his hands right now, don’t think about them running over your dress, don’t think about how good it’d feel</em>.</p><p>“Thank you,” she says, when she finally manages to redirect her thoughts. “So do you. That’s uh — a good color on you.”</p><p>“Thank you,” he responds, smiling at her, and for a long moment, they’re just smiling at each other, and honestly, they don’t even need to go out, <em>this is great</em>, and then his cheeks are flushing red and he’s rubbing the back of his neck.</p><p>She grins even wider at how flustered he seems already, and as they head for the door, she tosses out over her shoulder, “Alright you two, be good while we’re gone. Don’t get into any trouble.”</p><p>The two dogs look less than impressed with her admonishment as they go back to ignoring her to return to their own cuddle, Bee curling protectively around the smaller dog.</p><p>Soon enough, they’re at the natural history museum (“I’m a nerd, we’ve established that,” he said with a wink when he led them up its front steps, and she was so excited that she leaned in to quickly kiss his cheek, both of them blushing at the unexpected kiss.) They just stroll around the museum at first, and though part of her is <em>thrilled </em>at all the exhibits around her, the much bigger part of her is enthralled by Poe, and she can’t help but study him as he studies the exhibits, his face serious, that furrow between his brow so prominent that she finds it almost impossible to resist reaching her finger out to stroke the line, hoping to ease it into something smoother and more carefree.</p><p>One time, she catches <em>him</em> studying <em>her</em> and the feeling is almost electric. She has to turn away to hide her pleased smile.</p><p>Then she spies a sign for the butterfly exhibit, and she tugs him by the arm, his laughter trailing behind her, towards the exhibit.</p><p>Inside, they’re surrounded by live butterflies, their colorful wings beating the air around them as they flit about.</p><p>Then Poe reaches his arm out to her, softly whispers “Wait,” and she stares up at him with wide eyes as his hand comes up to cradle her cheek.</p><p>He’s standing so close, his hand so warm, that for one impossible moment she thinks he’s going to kiss her, but then she feels a butterfly fluttering its wings as it rests atop her hair, and she watches as the butterfly walks onto Poe’s hand, its wings moving soft as a whisper against her cheek, before it flies away.</p><p>He doesn’t kiss her then, and honestly, she really wouldn’t have liked their first kiss to be in the middle of a crowd at the butterfly exhibit, but, <em>oh, how she wanted.</em></p><p>***</p><p>The rest of the night is spent in a happy daze, dinner outside by a sculpture garden, a small quartet playing in the background. It’s a lovely evening, just cool enough that she has a perfectly valid excuse to cuddle up near him while they eat, though to be fair even if she didn’t, she would have made one up anyway.</p><p>It’s beautiful, and absolutely magical, and she regrets the moment he walks her back to her apartment. She stands in front of her door, smiling up at him, resting her hands on his shoulders before smoothing them over to play with the lapel of his shirt, letting her thumbs ghost along the sensitive skin of his neck as she does so.</p><p>He looks . . . he looks at her like she’s everything. He looks at her with this mix of, well, she hopes its love, since she knows she’s pretty much deep in it already. But there’s affection, desire, and so much more there too, and it makes her head spin.</p><p>Honestly, it’s why it’s a bit of a surprise to hear him speak.</p><p>“So, tell me — how did I do?”</p><p>Rey purses her lips and pretends like she’s thinking it over, even though she suspects that he knows that he’s knocked her off her feet.</p><p>She can’t resist doing likewise.</p><p>“Hmm, well, it was nice, I guess.”</p><p>His eyebrows arch up playfully. “Only nice?”</p><p>She hums. “Could’ve been better.”</p><p>“Well, tell me, Ms. Kenobi. How can I save myself at this moment and make this date better?”</p><p>She grins, wickedly. “Well, you could kiss me.”</p><p>“You think that could make the date better?” His broad hands reach out to her, curving around her waist, and she can feel the strength in them as they hold her. “Would it really help?”</p><p>She takes a step closer, and there’s no space left between them now, and one of her hands comes up to stroke the back of his neck, her fingers dipping into his hair, as soft and luscious as she knew it would be.</p><p>“Guess you’ll have to try it and find out.”</p><p>He smiles, warm but hungry, and he leans in slowly, much too slowly, and then <em>finally</em>.</p><p>His lips meet hers, and she can taste him, can taste hints of their dinner and the smooth, rich taste of the wine they had drunk, but she can also taste <em>him</em>, and she already knows that she’ll never get enough of it. His lips continue to move over hers, and then he’s angling his head to make the kiss deeper, better, his tongue sweeping along her bottom lip, and her hand tightens compulsively in his hair, the other one pulling at his shoulder as she takes a step backward.</p><p>Her back hits the door as his tongue meets hers, and it feels like fireworks are being set off all through her, and she gasps.</p><p>He takes the opportunity to press a few kisses into her jaw and neck. “So how did I do?”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>She can feel the vibrations along her skin as he laughs, sending a shiver through her.</p><p>“Did the kiss make the date better? Did I absolve myself of my earlier failure?”</p><p>She laughs, though the sound is breathless. “Hell yes.”</p><p>He laughs again, his hand coming up to cradle her cheek, his thumb stroking her cheekbone, as he looks into her eyes.</p><p>She smiles at him, unable to tease him any longer, unable to resist telling him the truth. “It was all wonderful. I had an amazing time. I would’ve had an amazing time anyway, because it was with you.” She smooths a hand over his hair and along his cheek, enjoying the way it feels when he nuzzles closer. “And I like playing scrabble with you, I like it when it’s just us, and I like it when you’re exploring museums with me.” She breathes in, not for courage, not really, because it’s <em>Poe</em> and she feels safe and happy and completely comfortable with him, and she already feels like she’s waited long enough to say what she wants to say. “What I’m trying to say is . . . I love you. And I think I have for a while.”</p><p>Poe stares at her for a long moment, and then there’s a slow and steady smile blossoming on his face. “I love you too, Rey Kenobi.”</p><p>This time when they kiss, she’s incredibly thankful that she’s already leaning against the door, Poe’s strong arms wrapped around her, because it quickly becomes deep and passionate, and one of his hands tangles into her hair, and it’s all so good —</p><p>When they part, she swallows heavily at the heady look in his eyes, and realizes she doesn’t want the evening to end.</p><p>“Would you like to come in for a game of scrabble?”</p><p>Poe nods, and follows her inside.</p><p>The scrabble board remains untouched for the rest of the night.</p>
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